10 Movies Directors Didn't Want You To Understand

Stephen Gaghan's 2005 political thriller Syriana impressively landed a Best Original Screenplay Oscar nomination despite being labelled "confusing" by most everyone, fan or hater, who dared to watch it.

At its core, the film is about the overpowering influence the oil industry has on geopolitics and the fundamental operation of the world on a day-to-day basis.

Syriana spreads itself across four separate storylines, each of them dense and complex in their own way, and Gaghan has stated that he made the plot intentionally confusing, presumably in an attempt to reflect the muddy web of Big Oil politics itself.

Though Syriana is certainly a workout for the mind and absolutely an attention-testing movie, the strong ensemble cast - especially a spectacular George Clooney - make it absolutely worth the potential headache. Just accept that there's plenty intended to fly clean over your head.